Subway To The Country

Subway To The Country

4 Responses to “Subway To The Country”

1. A. Duncan says:

   May 2, 2010 at 4:14 am

   been trying to get this cd for ages, had the LP and left it behind. he’s awesome. Less i couldn’t say.
   Rating: 5 / 5
2. Mr. Music says:

   May 2, 2010 at 5:08 am

   I respect David Ackles enormously and feel lucky to have discovered his music. That said, I just could not get into this album as much as his self-titled debut and “American Gothic” and I find myself neglecting this one in favour of those others. The songs are dense and complex and, for me, not as engaging as on his self-titled album or “American Gothic.” Also, even though Collector’s Choice is responsible for all of his reissues, I found the sound on this one to be a little lacking. Maybe that’s just the original album, I don’t know. Don’t get me wrong, this is a good album but it’s very idiosyncratic and I would suggest not a good place to start for the uninitiated. I would recommend either his self-titled debut or “American Gothic” instead.
   Rating: 3 / 5
3. Chuck Mills says:

   May 2, 2010 at 7:51 am

   Back in the 70s, around the time I graduated from college, I had somehow found the albums American Gothic by David Ackles, and his earlier self titled album. To this day American Gothic is one of my top 10 albums. But he was a rather obscure artist, and I never came across his other work. Then recently, scanning the internet I learned that he had died back in 1999, and his total album output was only 4 issues. I ordered the 2 I did not already possess, and was pleased with the quality and integrity of his craft in both “Subway to the Country” and “5 and Dime”. “Subway to the Country” grew in sophistication from “David Ackles”, both musically and lyrically. The music is increasingly in debt to the atonal style of Kurt Weill and his lyrics echo the abrupt mood swings and pervasive irony characteristic of Bertolt Brecht and the experimental theatre of the 1960s and ’70s. Strangely, I like the more simple and less shocking material, specifically the title song, Main Line Saloon, and That’s No Reason to Cry, more than I do the more dramatic material. As a stepping stone to his masterpiece, “American Gothic”, this is a very fine prelude indeed. Hearing this CD, with 8 songs I had never heard before, was just like hearing the voice of a long lost friend. I only wish he were still with us to challenge our musical intelligence some more.
   Rating: 4 / 5
4. Peter Baklava says:

   May 2, 2010 at 8:54 am

   David Ackles song, “Down River” was covered by two English groups, Spooky Tooth and the Hollies, who deserve some points for having the taste to record it.

   My familiarity with that song (which is a great one) led me to investigate Ackles’ early albums when they were re-released by Collector’s Choice Music. Of the three albums originally released on the Electra label, this one is my favorite, with “American Gothic” a close second. I prefer “Subway to the Country” because it seems like Ackles ‘wears his heart on his sleeve’ a little bit more on this album than on “Gothic”.

   Ackles gets categorized as a ‘folk musician’, but he is an anomaly in many respects. He was a pianist who sang in the manner of a cabaret performer, in a rich baritone voice. Each Ackles song is a carefully polished narrative. After listening to an Ackles album, you feel as if you’ve just been treated to a fine set of short stories by a master writer. Billy Joel got very rich styling himself as ‘the Piano Man’, but Ackles is the real, true poet, and he never got his due.

   What a shame that people like Ackles and Nick Drake never were appreciated during the years that they recorded. If there is any justice in the world, maybe someday, someone will do a Broadway production of Ackles songs. Actually, there is enough material in his albums to produce several plays.

   Buy this cd, find a day when your world is moving slowly, and give it the attention it deserves. It will sound ‘different’ to your ears at first, but as you listen, you may begin to feel things you had forgotten about for years.

   Rating: 5 / 5